A cigar is a tightly-rolled bundle of dried and fermented tobacco that is ignited so that its smoke may be drawn into the mouth. Cigar tobacco is grown in significant quantities around the world. A typical premium cigar is constructed with three layers of tobacco: filler, binder and wrapper tobacco. The inner layer is the filler tobacco which is bunched to form the main body of the cigar. The binder tobacco is wrapped around the filler bunch and serves to hold the filler tobacco in the desired shape. The wrapper tobacco is the outer layer which is wrapped around the filler and binder. In addition, most quality handmade cigars, regardless of shape, will have a cap which is one or more small pieces of a wrapper pasted onto one end of the cigar with either a natural tobacco paste, vegetable gum or with a mixture of flour and water. The vast majority of premium cigars come with one straight cut end and one end in a cap which must be cut off for the cigar to be smoked. The head of the cigar is the end with the cap applied. Cigars are classified generally by two shape categories: parejo and figurado. Parejo shaped cigars generally have straight sides and a rounded head, whereas figurado shaped cigars are those taking on any other shape. Figurados often have tapered or pointed heads.
A cigar cutter is a mechanical device designed to cut off one or both ends of a cigar so that it may be properly smoked. Most have at least one blade made of steel, and they can be adorned with various accents such as wood.
The cap end of a cigar is the rounded end not having tobacco exposed. It is desirable to remove a portion of the cap in preparation for smoking the cigar. In order to remove a portion of the cap, the cap is typically cut with a cigar cutter or knife, or it is bitten off. Nevertheless, it is critical to cut the head/cap at the appropriate place.
The head of the cigar has a convex, or curved, shape, part of which is called the shoulder. A perfect cut will leave most of the shoulder intact, as it is necessary to remove only a small amount of the wrapper to expose the filler material. Cutting off the entire cigar head will not significantly improve the draw, however, it can cause the wrapper tobacco of the cigar to unravel. Further, if the cap is cut jaggedly or without proper care, problems with the smokeability of the cigar can result. To wit, the end of the cigar may not burn evenly, smokeable tobacco could be lost, the draw (the term commonly used to describe how easily a cigar allows air to pass through it) could be adversely affected and/or the outer wrapper tobacco may unravel. In some cases improperly cutting the cap can render a cigar effectively unsmokeable.
Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that it has long been the practice to cut the cap of a premium cigar utilizing any one of a variety of cutters, such as “guillotine,” “double blade,” “punch,” “scissors,” “V-shape” and the like. Each has its benefits and disadvantages as will be described herein.
The guillotine style cutter typically consists of a single blade and a fixed stop that is operable by two fingers between an open and closed configuration. Typically, these are low cost and can cut the cap on any shape cigar up to 54 ring gauge. However, they tend to be difficult to position precisely immediately before and during the cutting action and, as such, are prone to tear the tobacco, rather than cut a cigar cleanly.
The double blade style cutter utilizes two blades that are operable between an open and closed configuration. Typically, this style of cutter features finger or palm grips on the same side of the fulcrum point as the cutting blades. Alternatively, the double blade style cutter may be configured similar to the guillotine style cutter where the blades, that are operable by two fingers, slide into relative engagement along tracks. This style of cutter is less prone to tearing the tobacco and provides a cleaner cut than does the single blade guillotine style cutter. As with the single blade guillotine style cutter, it can be utilized on virtually any shape cigar. However, also like the single blade guillotine style cutter, it can be difficult to position precisely and can lead to cutting too much of the cap and causing the cigar wrapper to unravel.
The punch style cutter consists of a single circular shape blade that is inserted into the cap and removed to create a small hole on the head of the cigar. Punch style cutters typically cut cleanly, but must be used more than once on larger ring gauge cigars to create a larger opening. The punch style cutter is typically relatively small which facilitates portability. However, this type of cutter cannot be used on most figurado cigars.
The scissors style cutter is similar to the double blade cutter relative to its benefits and disadvantages, but typically is two finger-operable with the finger grip locations being on opposite sides of the fulcrum point from blades. This style of cutter typically has an elegant, sophisticated look and can be lightweight and compact.
The V-shape style cutter utilizes a V-shaped blade to cut a substantially triangular cross-sectional plug from the cap of the cigar. This type of cut renders a relatively large cross section of exposed tobacco to draw the smoke through. However as the blade dulls through use, it can damage the cigar while cutting.
Further, it will be appreciate by those of ordinary skill in the art that hand held scissor or guillotine style cigar cutters of the prior art have been designed to be actuated by squeezing two fingers—typically, the thumb and index finger—or the palm of the hand. Both can be difficult to control and can provide an uneven (jagged) cut. These devices often overlook user friendliness in that they provide little or no grip for the user to index the device with their hand.
It is, therefore, desirable for a cigar cutter to possess the following characteristics:                The cutter must be easy to handle and fit within a user's hand well enough for the cutting edge to be controlled, by a single hand, during the cutting motion. This virtue has been largely overlooked in contemporary cigar cutters.        The geometry of the cutting surface must lend itself to cutting a wide variety of shapes and sizes of cigars and still produce a high quality cut with-out leaving a wave formation on the cigar head. In this regard, it is important to note that premium cigar smokers rarely smoke only one size of cigar.        The cigar cutter should be constructed of durable materials. Cigar smoking is often a traditional, generation-bridging practice. Yet, cigar cutters of the prior art rarely get passed down as functioning heirlooms due to mechanical failure.        
Thus, those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that using a device of the present invention to cut the cap of a premium cigar offers an improvement over conventional cigar cutters.